Open source hardware and software company Arduino has teamed up with Google to develop and launch the Arduino Science Kit Physics Lab. Designed for students aged 11 to 14, the kit helps kids experiment with forces, motion, magnetism and conductivity.

Arduino says it's on a mission to get technology into the hands of students and teachers, and has built a global team of experts, content developers, engineers and interaction designers for precisely that purpose, who all come together under the Arduino Education banner.

The Arduino Science Kit Physics Lab is the first official kit designed for middle schoolers, who can look forward to experimenting just like real scientists – coming up with their own hypotheses, verifying their assumptions, and logging project data using Google's Science Journal app (a digital notebook on a mobile device for conducting and documenting experiments).

Each kit has everything needed for nine physics experiments designed to help students develop useful skills such as critical thinking and problem solving. Arduino recommends that students work in pairs, connecting a smartphone or tablet to the kit's main board and exploring electromagnetism, thermodynamics, kinetics and kinematics using the supplied sensors and plug-and-play modules.

Experiments include building a conductive maze to test the steady hand of students, making a theremin-like device, and getting the board to bounce. The platform is also compatible with Google Classroom for sharing projects online. The only thing missing from the kit is a power source, which the students or teacher will need to provide before the weird science can begin.

Tags

While Paul is loath to reveal his age, he will admit to cutting his IT teeth on a TRS-80 (although he won't say which version). An obsessive fascination with computer technology blossomed from hobby into career before hopping over to France for 10 years, where he started work for New Atlas in 2009. Now back in his native Blighty, he serves as Managing Editor in Europe.

0 comments

Sign in to post a comment. Please keep comments to less than 150 words. No abusive material or spam will be published.